On board the world’s longest cruise, you won’t just be at sea for a few weeks: you’ll be booked into your cabin for more than a year.

Launched by Explorations by Norwegian, the 371-day journey sets sail for the first time on September 1, with a proper world-exploring route that traverses Norway, Japan, Italy, Alaska, Panama, and the Amazon Rainforest.

Now, cruises famously don’t come cheap: the fee needs to cover a heck of a lot, from onboard catering to suites, fuel, and facilities.

And this epic cruise certainly costs a pretty penny, coming in at around £56,603, as reported by Euronews.

But if you can afford to foot the massive bill, you’ll be in for nothing short of an epic adventure.

How does the cost of the cruise compare to a year living in London?

While £56,603 might seem extortionate on the surface, is it really that much more than the cost of a year living in England’s capital?

According to global financial technology platform, Wise, the average cost of living in London in 2026 is £3,346 per month.

The breakdown of this figure is 70 per cent on rent (about £2,218), 8 per cent on groceries, 7 per cent on eating out, 6 per cent on transportation,7 per cent on utilities, and 2 per cent on leisure.

Accross one year, the total cost would be around £40,152, making the cruise £16,451 more expensive.

For the average Londoner, living in the city for a year would be cheaper. However, those who spend a significant amount more on rent, bills, shopping and going out, plus other expenses such as childcare and holidays, might find the costs creeping closer to the £56,000 cruise.

What’s on the cruise itinerary?

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The itinerary includes more than 230 ports across six continents, bringing together a complete range of experiences, rather than focusing on just one area of the world, as a typical cruise would.

The first-ever cruise of this type set sail on September 1, and by October, it’s planning to reach Norway, just in time for passengers to see the Northern Lights.

It’ll be calling at Tromsø, which is famously one of the top spots in the world to see the elusive aurora borealis. Alta is also on the list, another stellar location for them on Norway’s northern coast.

Heading into the festive season, while the rest of the world slogs through work parties and dinner table politics, guests will enjoy a Christmas to remember; one which couldn’t be further from the winter cold.

The ship will make its way through Singapore and Malaysia, spending Christmas Day in Phuket, Thailand, before moving on to Koh Samui to ring in 2027.

On New Year’s Day, guests will move on to Bangkok, Thailand’s buzzy capital, known for its street food, canal boats, and ornate Grand Palace.

By March, the ship will dock in Japan, which is, coincidentally, just in time to welcome in cherry blossom season. This time of year, trees flower with unique pink and white hues, with some of the most famous spots being Mount Yoshino, where more than 30,000 come to life each spring.

From there, the route heads towards the Panama Canal, and then through South America, starting off in the Amazon Rainforest.

What amenities are onboard?

The ship itself is called the Regatta, and has 348 rooms, a pool deck (with two whirlpool spas), plus a library with more than 2,000 books.

There’s also a spa with a range of treatments available, and a fitness centre, in case you want to smash any PBs while you’re away for the year.

Want a similar experience but can’t manage an entire year off work? Explorations by Norwegian offers shorter cruises, including a Christmas adventure across India and Sri Lanka, which runs for 16 nights.

There’s also a 27-night option through Yosemite, Napa Valley, and the Panama Canal, while a 25-night journey ticks off Florida, the Caribbean, and New York.

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Elsewhere in the world of cruises, the world’s largest ship, the Legend of the Seas, made its debut this summer.

Royal Caribbean certainly hasn’t skimped on the fun: it’s home to the biggest waterpark ever built on a ship.

Named Category 6, it boasts six slides and seven pools, one of which is equipped with a swim-up bar so you can sink cocktails in the shallow end.

There’s also some guaranteed stomach-drop moments on the aptly named Frightening Bolt, the tallest waterslide in all the seven seas.

There’s also the FlowRider surf simulator, which is 12 metres long and contains 100,000 litres of water.

The experience is supposed to be just like riding the waves the ship itself is traversing, but there’s seating right next to it, in case you’d rather watch.

Plus, almost 30 years on from the idea first being floated, it looks like the world’s first ‘city at sea’ could finally set sail soon.

Measuring up at over a mile long and 800ft wide, the Freedom Ship is set to be bigger than any vessel ever built, with capacity for 80,000 passengers across 30 decks – and there’ll be school, banks, offices, and even a research hospital on board.

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